Indian football has not improved in recent years, says Vijayan

New Delhi: Indian football legend IM Vijayan on Thursday said that the game in the country has stagnated in recent years with the national side not showing improvement with a string of reverses at the regional and Asian level.

Former captain Vijayan, who played 79 matches for India between 1989 and 2003, refused to pinpoint the SAFF Championships debacle, but said that the national side has not produced results in recent years.

"I am not an (sports) administrator and not playing in the national side now. So I am not going to blame anybody for this. But what can I say, it's for all to see. We are not getting the results in the recent years at the regional and Asian level," Vijayan said.

"I am not saying this because of the title loss in SAFF Championships. In fact, the team played well, even in the final against Afghanistan. But we have not had the desired results in recent times. When I was playing India were in top 100 in the FIFA rankings (94th in 1996). But now we are low in rankings (147th)," he said.

India took part in the 2011 Asian Cup in Doha after winning the AFC Challenge Cup in 2008 at home and in the same year also bagged the SAFF title for the sixth time. The country, however, failed to go past the qualify round of AFC Challenge Cup in 2010 and 2012 – the first one, under Englishman Bob Houghton, had Under-23 players while the second one was a full strength team under current coach Wim Koevermans, who took charge in July last year for a two-year deal.

The national side also lost heavily in the two international friendly matches played this year – against Palestine and Tajikistan. The only saving grace was the Nehru Cup title triumph here last year under Dutchman Koevermans.

Vijayan, also known as 'Black Panther' for his lethal goal scoring abilities in his playing days, said that it would be difficult for India to jump to top 10 in Asia and qualify for the World Cup in near future.

"It will be a difficult to be among top 10 in Asia. We have to qualify for Asian Cup and beat the top teams there and we have to be able to play in later stages of the World Cup qualifying round. It's tough, though, I am not saying that it's impossible," said the 44-year-old former striker who scored 40 goals in his international career.

Vijayan backed the proposed IPL-style football tournament to be organised early next year by IMG-Reliance, the commercial and marketing partners of All India Football Federation.

"It (the IPL-style league) will be good for Indian players as they will play with and against good international players. It will help the Indian players. We played against some good players in our times (in tournaments like Nehru Cup) and that has helped us," said Vijayan, referring to the Nehru Cup tournament, which once saw participation from the likes of the then Soviet Union, Romania, Iraq, Hungary, Poland and North Korea.

"Moreover, I think the profile of India football can increase with more spectators coming at the stadia and watching on television. The Indian players will also get more money,” he said.

"I know there is some problem going on with the players signed with IMG-R and the coach having spoken about lack of competitive football for them as I-League teams have refused to sign them. But I hope the issue is sorted out. But as a concept, the league is a good one," he said, adding that he has not been associated so far with the proposed league in any capacity.

Asked if bringing in foreign coaches has benefitted the Indian national team, he said, "It's not about whether the coach is from abroad or India. The players are from India and we have to have quality. We have a long history of foreign coaches. I have played under some of them."